Fords and Low Water Bridges

[webny99]

Fillmore Glen State Park in Moravia, NY has a parking lot only accessible by driving through Enfield Creek.
I think another NYS Park has this setup, but I can't remember which. Stony Brook, maybe?

Treman in Ithaca and Newfield Towns.

Yep, that's definitely it. Thanks!
Can't believe I forgot, having just been there last summer...

[jemacedo9]

Old Gulph Rd at Mill Creek Rd in Lower Merion Twp PA (suburban Philly) has a ford:

https://goo.gl/maps/DVCmArsi8XH2

I thought there was another one in Lower Merion but can't remember where.

Found it: https://goo.gl/maps/yzC4M6atMh22
Righters Mill Rd just north of Mill Creek Rd

That's the one - thanks!!

[Rothman]

There are various fords in Utah's national parks across washes and the like. 

Back when my mother was a kid in the 1950s, KY 122 and KY 777 were just creek beds in a lot of places back then.

[bugo]

There are lots of fords and low water bridges in Polk County, Arkansas. Many of them are forest service roads.

Here is CR 647 crossing the Ouachita River. This bridge is built solidly on the ground like a causeway but has tubes that run under the road similar to a culvert. When the river is up, water simply flows across the bridge. This bridge is notorious for flooding when the river is up:

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.579758,-94.1525741,55m/data=!3m1!1e3

Here is CR 74 across the Irons Fork River:

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6167033,-94.1398807,69m/data=!3m1!1e3

There are also lots of fords where the creek is always above the road but unfortunately, they are all in thick forested areas and cannot be seen in aerial photographs.

Here's one near Beachton, OK on E1750:

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.4867899,-94.5149637,69m/data=!3m1!1e3

There is also a paved ford on AR 926 near Bear in Garland County.

[bugo]

Here's a low water bridge that has been abandoned since the early 1980s on CR 48 over the Mountain Fork River in rural Polk County, Arkansas near Alder Springs:

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.5617978,-94.3754277,77m/data=!3m1!1e3

Here's a picture of the bridge. Note that there is a fallen pier on the right side of the picture, south of the bridge. The fallen pier is from a bridge that was under construction when a flood knocked it and some other piers down:



Here's another shot of the same bridge:

[ErmineNotyours]

Thank you for starting or reviving this topic.  I remember seeing fords in British comedies and documentaries, but I didn't know how to get more information.  I finally took the direct approach and asked Wikipedia, and it linked to Wet Roads UK.  That site has fords in other countries, including the US.

Before I found that site, I found a ford, bicycling on Tinkham Road in Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest, a road closely paralleling Interstate 90.  There is no pedestrian bridge, so luckily I had my bike so my feet didn't get wet.  I came back a few years later with my digital camera, but there was no water then.

Ford on Tinkham Road, Mt. Baker Snoquamie National Forest by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

Ford on Tinkham Road, Mt. Baker Snoquamie National Forest by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

Ford on Tinkham Road, Mt. Baker Snoquamie National Forest by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

Further down the road there's a ford with passage for a small amount of water.
Ford on Tinkham Road, Mt. Baker Snoquamie National Forest by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

Ford on Tinkham Road, Mt. Baker Snoquamie National Forest by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

Then on Maui on Makena Road I found this:  A sign saying "DIP, Do not cross when water touches red on post."  But the whole post is red. Google Street View.  (Here's another flood ford further up the road.)

Floodable road in Maui by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

Floodable road in Maui by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

[inkyatari]

White Pines Forest State Park near Oregon, Illinois has several fords to cross...

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9915222,-89.4716359,282m/data=!3m1!1e3

[wolfiefrick]

In Kirkwood (where I live half the time!) there exists a ford on W Monroe Ave as it winds through the woods behind Kirkwood Park. Most of the time there's no water and it was completely unsigned as a ford or a low water crossing until only a few years ago, when enough pressure from disgruntled residents forced the city to erect a warning in advance of the ford.

Here's how GSV imaged the ford on W Monroe Ave.

And the signs warning about the ford from the west and the east. Unfortunately, they're both in Arial. Can't blame a suburban town of 27,000 residents to care too much.

[Roadster]

Interesting   .....

had never heard of the term "Ford" to describe what is known down here in these parts of the U.S. basically as a  "Low Water Crossing"   

Good term to know though and interesting topic/thread. 

[MNHighwayMan]

had never heard of the term "Ford" to describe what is known down here in these parts of the U.S. basically as a  "Low Water Crossing"   

"Fording," even more generally, just means crossing a body of flowing water using a land vehicle.

[abefroman329]

had never heard of the term "Ford" to describe what is known down here in these parts of the U.S. basically as a  "Low Water Crossing"   

"Fording," even more generally, just means crossing a body of flowing water using a land vehicle.

Anyone who has played Oregon Trail should be familiar with it.

[silverback1065]

don't think indiana has any

[SSR_317]

don't think indiana has any

There was likely once one across the West Fork of the White River on Henderson Ford Road in Morgan County, but it has LONG since been replaced by a bridge.

[Max Rockatansky]

CA 25 used to have a bunch of fords over Lewis Creek when it ran on Lewis Creek Road.  The alignment has been long been abandoned since it was replaced in the 1950s but one of the dirt fords visible in the center of the photo below:

IMG_8155 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

[triplemultiplex]

I've crossed dozens of these in New Mexico; maybe over a hundred.  On rural two lane roads where it only rains enough for a stream to flow once every year or two, they are more than adequate.  I even encountered a place where the bridge was too dilapidated for traffic and was replaced with a ford.  Probably a short term solution in that case, but still, it was interesting to see.  (Sure enough, an investigation on the Google Earth shows the bridge has been replaced.)
That was NM 419 in the middle of starkly beautiful nowhere west of Mosquero.

[MikieTimT]

There are dozens of these all throughout the Ouachita Mtns. in Arkansas, some as far north as Jack Creek and Knopper's Ford south of Booneville.  They're very common on county and forestry service roads, nearly all of which are unpaved.  Just not enough traffic to justify a greater investment.

[skluth]

Old Gulph Rd at Mill Creek Rd in Lower Merion Twp PA (suburban Philly) has a ford:
https://goo.gl/maps/DVCmArsi8XH2
I thought there was another one in Lower Merion but can't remember where.

Found it: https://goo.gl/maps/yzC4M6atMh22
Righters Mill Rd just north of Mill Creek Rd

I wonder if those two exist "just for the novelty of it".  Lower Merion Township and all that.  Concrete pavement under the ford.  Same creek, Mill Creek on both.  Looks like those streams may never be more than a few inches deep in any case.

There used to be concrete-paved ford across Duck Creek in Pamperin Park in Green Bay when I was a kid. I loved it when my dad drove us through it. You can still see the concrete blocks under the water in Google imagery.

https://www.google.com/maps/@44.544797,-88.1032754,65m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

I have no idea how long it's been since the city removed the crossing or why it was removed.

[triplemultiplex]

I have no idea how long it's been since the city removed the crossing or why it was removed.

The why seems obvious: it was completely unnecessary.
Surprises me that the concrete hasn't been removed, though.  It's significant enough to encumber fish passage.

[paulthemapguy]

don't think indiana has any

The first one I ever came across was in Parke County, Indiana, and it was April...so it was flooded and we couldn't proceed.  I wish I could go around the rural roads in Streetview so I can find it, but google's data there is sparing.  It's covered bridge country, so there's a lot of wacky rural bridges.  It might have been here? https://www.google.com/maps/place/Parke+County,+IN/@39.7810589,-87.1462165,277m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x886d4821a0e93fa3:0x70d77523ff4b70a1!8m2!3d39.6992946!4d-87.1422895

[cpzilliacus]

I can think of only two in Maryland.  One ford and one low-water bridge (there were once other fords, but those have been closed or been replaced by bridges).

The ford is in Montgomery County, on West Old Baltimore Road in the  Boyds area, not especially far from I-270.  GSV here

The low-water bridge is a toll (!) bridge over the North Branch of the Potomac River, near unincorporated Oldtown in Allegany County.  It even has a Web site of its own here.

The south landing of the bridge is in Green Spring, Hampshire County, West Virginia (but the entire bridge is in Maryland, because the state line is at the  "low water mark" on the Virginia (now West Virginia) shore.   GSV here (the toll house can be seen in the distance). 

Toll rates are regulated by the  Maryland Public Service Commission.

[SteveG1988]

I kind of want to try one in the pine barrens of NJ, does anybody know of any?

[Ian]

This one's not far from where I grew up. Howarth Road's crossing of Chrome Creek near Media, PA has a small guardrail-less one-lane "bridge" that frequently floods in high-water events. Even as a kid, I thought it was sketchy.

https://goo.gl/maps/Y8owNM3naDS2

[wxfree]

The Texas State Department of Highways and Public Transportation (pre-TxDOT) maps from the 80s had separate symbols for concrete fords and natural fords.  They no longer mark fords, although I'd think knowing about such features would be somewhat important.  I know of only one natural ford.  It was covered with concrete years ago, but I did drive over it before then back in the 90s.  The pavement ended and the road was carried on the creek bed, which was bedrock, for about 30 feet.  It wasn't exactly smooth, but it had only minor grooves and undulations and could easily be driven over in any car (as long as the water was low, obviously).  I'd guess that motorcycles may have had a harder time because of having to slow to nearly a stop to prevent splashing and mitigate the possible danger from slipping on a slimy spot of moss.

I know of one other place with a similar arrangement, a very low concrete road with water flowing over it where the creek bed is relatively level solid rock and may have been a natural ford in the past.

[danthecatrafficlightfan]

this one is pretty low!

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.8194297,-119.3832032,3a,75y,264.04h,79.87t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sf34rN3pcr8bM2hXX_raldA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

infact it's so low that two years ago the bridge was closed the entire summer almost because they were worried the river might flood over the Bridge!

[index]

Found what looks like a ford off of US 64 in Tyrrell County NC.


https://www.google.com/maps/@35.9172198,-76.259571,216m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en


https://www.google.com/maps/@35.9170349,-76.2593815,3a,22.2y,29.1h,82.9t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1svodpSls_yY4I2qIhVgzTRQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en